


Glimpse of the False Reflection

by AbsVoD7



Category: Underfell - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-23 23:32:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14343276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsVoD7/pseuds/AbsVoD7
Summary: The human is left in dire straits as the nature of the loop places them in a lose-lose situation. Things get worse as it turns out going back isn't as simple as they had thought. Keeping hope is proving hard under static time, and facing the dark in their friends again causes the human to reevaluate the strength of their bonds until eventually their incidents are no longer on accident.





	Glimpse of the False Reflection

**Author's Note:**

> The tenth work of this story follows after A Path of Nightmares Expunged. This is also the part one of the two part genocide speed run that leads to the conclusion of this series as a whole.

_It can't be,_  the human thought as they opened their eyes. The sunlight clearly descended on their body from the hole in the ceiling above as they laid on their back amidst the bed of flowers they were way too familiar with.  _Why? What was it all for? We were supposed to enjoy our first day on the surface together. Everyone would've been able to watch the stars fill in the night sky. All of the hard work we did to set everyone free, did it really just go to waste?_ The human thought.

     "Hello?" Flowey shouted from down the hall. "I know you're around here, so where are you at?" He continued to call out.  _I can't believe we're all back here, this is pretty devastating actually._ _Flowey_ _must remember everything that’s happened as well. I wonder if he's as rattled by all of this as I am,_ they thought. Not too long after that he popped up out of the ground right in front of the doorway before finding the human laying on the flower bed to his right. "There you are," he said with relief as he popped up right next to them.

     "Flowey, do you remember everything?" The human asked with their gaze still trained on the hole in the ceiling.

     "Yeah unfortunately, I know we successfully reasoned with Asgore and reunited the rest of the underground before having everyone go up to the surface together. You and I were about to descend down the mountain with them, but everything stopped all of a sudden and before I knew it I was back in that room. Do you know what happened at the time?" Flowey responded.

     "Everything stopped for me as well, but I was soon pulled into a section of null space different from the hollow world. That's when they found me, the first fallen," the human answered.

     "What? Chara! You talked to them?" Flowey asked in surprise.

     "That's right, but it was much more than that. It seems that Chara was watching me the whole time. They witnessed every fight, conversation, and death that had ever befallen me. They had issues letting go of it all, and their curiosity for the future of monster kind was emboldened when I appeared. They were honest about their distaste for humanity but seeing me restore everyone's compassion got them to root for me," they answered.

     "Oh, but why are we back then if you had succeeded?" Flowey asked. The human then sat up before raising an arm in Flowey's direction.

     "They told me that there was nothing more that I could do, that this path was at an end and I'd end up back at the beginning no matter which path I would've taken. I was ruined at that point, and the only option left was to die forever, or take the future away from them again. I was too shaken up to make a choice at the time, and before I could come around, Chara took my hand and triggered the reset for me," they explained.

     "Really? I always wondered if they were able to do resets before me, but to connect to other beings in null space must mean that their time in the land of the dead has opened more doors for them," Flowey responded.

     "All of this has made me pretty angry Flowey," the human griped.

     "Well that makes sense, I'm pretty sure that all of your friends would be even more furious if they knew what was going on. Even more so if they found out their lives on the surface had vanished before their eyes," Flowey responded.

     "Chara didn't have to force a reset. You all could be living happily on the surface right now if they had just let me fade away," the human said while advancing down the hallway and turning left into the door.

     "Are you even listening to what you're saying right now? You mean to tell me that if you had gotten to make the choice, you would've ended your life forever to allow everyone else to live freely?" Flowey asked.

     "Probably, it seemed like the best choice that would ensure the least amount of suffering for them," the human responded with a shrug.

     "This is a joke, right? You underestimate how much everyone valued you. Can you honestly believe that everyone would've lived without grief if you suddenly died after helping them achieve their life long dream? Of course not, because not only did you help them see the sun, you helped them find hope when everyone's hearts were closed off," Flowey told the human as they proceeded to open the door locked with the footpad puzzle.

     "I understand all of that- I'm not finished yet," Flowey interrupted them. "I bet Chara knew they could've ended it once and for all, and having you die for us must've been very tempting. However, they saved you instead, because they've come to respect your compassion and the ability to put others ahead of yourself," Flowey explained as the human proceeded to flip the switches to the spike barricade.

     "Huh, you didn't seem to know much about yourself before, even less about them. Did all of these memories about Chara come back to you after we had saved everyone? Don't worry about it, in any case I'll try my best to calm down," they told him while approaching the bizarre mannequin. "It's going to be hard to meet them all for the first time again," they said while placing both hands on what might've been the mannequin's shoulders.

     "Best to just hang in there, besides, I don't like the idea of you being so quick exchange your life. I don't want you to get used to death no matter how many times it happens," Flowey said. The human proceeded to pick up a small stone as the two advanced into the next room.

     "I get that," the human said as they lightly tossed the stone up and down. Hesitation enveloped the human as their memories of all the death and horror they endured to win over their friends began to flash before their eyes. "It's just that we did so much and starting over is a pretty hard thing to do," they said while throwing the stone ahead of them.

     "No!" Flowey shouted. The human gave him a surprised look as his outburst caught them off guard for a moment. Upon catching a slight bit of movement out the corner of their eye, they realized that the Froggit they were anticipating had hopped out of its hole in the wall to end up right in front of them just like the first time. As the rock hit the Froggit in the head, the duo rushed over with concerned expressions as the Froggit staggered for a moment before falling onto its back.

     "No, I didn't realize I was thinking about him the whole time!" The human said while picking up the Froggit in both hands. "Please hang on, I can't believe I did that to you," they pleaded. However, it was too late because Froggit gave off one last croak before turning to dust. As Froggit's remains slid between their fingers and onto the ground, the human balled both of their hands into fists before screaming as loud as they could.

     "Why are we still doing this!" They yelled.

     "Calm down, it was a mistake," Flowey said hoping he could get them to snap out of it.

     "That wasn't supposed to happen. He never even got to speak to us because everything we've ever worked for has been undone! It's a shame that we did so much to help them all and only three of us can remember anything!" They continued to shout.

     "I understand but getting angry isn't going to fix anything," Flowey said as the human gazed in disarray at the dust that clung to their hands.

     "This can't be real, does this mean everyone's still stuck with that crippling 'kill or be killed' mentality? They don't deserve this," the human said while racing away from Froggit's remains and speeding through the spike bridge puzzle. "I'm definitely losing it Flowey, talking with Chara really messed me up," the human said while climbing up and over the talking rock.

     "Woah, you can't just put your hands on me like that," the rock said.

     "I don't want to believe that every path leads back to the beginning, there has to be something waiting for me up there right?" The human said while falling down the other side of the rock.

     "You're just going to ignore me like that?" The rock continued.

     "There has to be more to it," they continued. Meanwhile the complaints of the rock were slowly fading away in the distance. "I must've had a life before I came to the mountain, right?" They asked Flowey.

     "I wish I could say yes, but this seems like the only explanation as to why we never figured out your name or where it was you were trying to get back to on the surface, and those are obviously important questions when it comes to justifying your past," he responded as the human ignored the room filled with monster candy and immediately took the path leading into the long corridor.

     "That's true, if I can't prove- Stop right there small one," Toriel interrupted, causing the human to freeze.  _There's definitely a nervous air being given off between us. Her demeanor expresses the desire to spread warmth but there's no forgetting the severe loneliness behind her eyes that could down spiral into a massive problem rather quickly,_ the human thought.

     "So much despair you're giving off right now. You should have hope my child," she said while holding out one hand in their direction. Meanwhile the human rushed her with tears forming in each of their eyes. My name is Toriel-ooh," she said as the human interrupted her with a hug before she could get to the rest of her sentence.

     "Another failure, to think you were so close to recovering too," the human would've said, but burying their face in her robe made them inaudible for the most part.

     "Oh my, to think a human would show such blind compassion for a monster. You remind me of them, their name started with a C if I remember correctly," she said.  _That's right, even now you're watching this aren't you?_ The human thought.

     "Listen, I get that you're upset, it doesn't do well by any of us to see her like this again, but that doesn't mean you should blame Chara for not making the choice for you," Flowey whispered to them. "Let's not forget that breaking the loop means losing you forever, and I'm sure that'll hurt them a lot," he continued.

     "I definitely want to be hospitable to you, but I'm not prepared to have company over just yet," Toriel said while peeling the human off of her. "Just wait a bit and I'll be able to open up my home to you soon enough," she said before taking off.

     "That's upsetting, she didn't even remember to leave a phone behind this time. She won't be able to ask about what kind of pie I prefer or put together multiple sets of clothes for me to traverse the underground with," they said.

     "Let's get a move on," Flowey told them. With a heavy heart the human proceeded through the next room unfazed by the leaf pile pit they fell through. _This is depressing, but_ _Flowey_ _has a point. If I'm as important as he says then they won't have a good ending no matter what I do,_ they thought.

     "You fell into the wrong place buddy," Whimsun said as the human pushed their self-up off the ground.  _They're definitely out of it, but I don't know what to say. I used to be in this alone. I didn't make it as far them. Come to think of it, I didn't really get anywhere at all,_ Flowey wondered. Whimsun proceeded to follow them into the next room despite how much they were ignoring him. As they brought their back to the wall and slid down they looked to the left to see the soul anchor they made so long ago was missing.

 _I was never here. No one will remember my face or anything I've said to them,_ they thought while directing their gaze to the old cheese that was stuck to the table.  _Froggit_ _probably thought that I struck him out of hate,_ they continued to think while Whimsun kept buzzing overhead.

     "Whimsun, back off please. We're having a hard enough time as it is," Flowey told him.

     "Big deal, that doesn't mean you get to pop in on me without having to tussle," Whimsun said while bringing his miniscule fists down on the human's head as they buried their face in both of their hands.

     "Whimsun, please go away," the human said while blocking Whimsun's feeble fists with one hand. They then pushed him away with the same hand before scratching their head.

     "I know he can be a pest but there's no need to-uh oh," Flowey interrupted himself while simultaneously grabbing the human's attention.

     "What is it this time Flowey?" The human asked as they took their eyes off the ground. Meanwhile Whimsun went flying back first into a wall where the impact stuck him to it for a sec before having him slide down. "No," they said while getting up and running over to Whimsun. "Please tell me you're ok," they said as Whimsun fought to get back onto both of his feet.

     "You can... do better... than that," Whimsun said before closing his eyes and falling onto his face. Agony proceeded to take hold of the human once more as they watched Whimsun turn to dust right before their eyes.

     "You have to be kidding me! I barely used any force on him! Just how fragile was he? I didn't think it was possible to effortlessly dust a monster with my bare hands," the human complained.

     "Well, you didn't mean to kill Froggit either. Human's just have that much more physical matter than monsters," Flowey explained.

     "That's not the same, Whimsun didn't get clocked in the head with a rock. He should still be alive-Ahh!" The human screamed amidst their rant.

     "Woah, what's going on with you?" Flowey asked as he watched them collapse to the ground.

     "I don't know, there's a lot of pain, but it's not coming from my body," they said in a strained voice while writhing on the ground.

     "Hold on, let me try something," Flowey said while unleashing a pulse of soul energy in their direction. "No way," he said as he analyzed the waves of soul energy they unleashed in response. Soon afterwards, the human stopped rolling around before sitting up and breathing heavily.

     "What just happened Flowey?" They asked while raising a hand to their fast beating heart.

     "I can't believe I'm saying this, but it looks like you've raised your level of violence," he responded.

     "What! Level of violence? So, I've become even more dangerous?" They asked.

     "That's the short of it. Damage threshold, soul power manifestation, mobility, perception, and reaction time. All of these innate powers seem to have risen a small amount," he explained. "I was trying to get you to calm down, now we don't know what to expect," he continued.

     "We went through so much to make peace with everyone in that last timeline, and I want it back," the human said while standing back up. "I don't see why we should have to go through all of that again," they continued.

     "It seems like doing it again is the only way, because I doubt returning to a certain timeline after a reset is even possible," Flowey explained.

     "Does anything I do even matter here?" The human said out of frustration.

     "Of course it does, that's why you have to prove that you're willing to fight for it again," Flowey responded.

     "I'm not sure if I can do it Flowey, I can't even build enough excess determination to recreate a soul anchor right now," they said.

     "Hmm, you always made them unintentionally during moments of hope, anticipation, and challenge," Flowey speculated. "My guess is that this area no longer peaks your curiosity like it did the first time so there's not much for you to look forward to this time around. You just have to block out the toil you feel in response to traversing the underground again. I'm sure the soul anchors will come naturally once you're back to your old self," he continued.

 _What if I don't go back?_ They wondered.  _No, I can do this,_ _I just have to do what I can to fix things from here on out_ _,_ they thought while proceeding into the next room. As usual Napstablook was laying down in the middle of the leaf pile as they approached.

     "What do you want?" Napstablook said as the human's finger phased right through him.

     "I'm trying to get by please. I could walk through you, but I don't want to invade your personal space, so can you move?" The human asked. Napstablook then rolled over and stared the human in the eye causing them to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

     "Unamusing," he said while turning back around.

     "You're just going to ignore us now?" Flowey responded.

     "You can't be serious, Blooky I need you to move," the human responded.

     "That's very interesting. I'm certain you and I have never crossed paths before, yet here you are calling me by an old nickname even though I haven't even introduced myself. Care to explain?" Napstablook asked as he floated up from the pile of leaves.

     "Sorry Napstablook, it's complicated," the human told him.

     "Don't worry, none of it will matter once I kill you," he said before vanishing before their eyes.

     "It just had to come to this," the human said while taking a deep breath.

     "I'll watch your back so he doesn't sneak up on us," Flowey told them.

     "He's on our right," they said while putting distance between them and Napstablook just as he reappeared.

     "How'd you know?"  _Wait a minute, perception has been increased. Is it that noticeable at this level?_ Flowey wondered. Meanwhile the human proceeded to evade the spread shots fired their way without taking damage. They then ran towards Napstablook as he made ectoplasmic tears trail off and chase them from above and head on.

     "Very interesting," Napstablook said as the human jumped over the puddle and phased through him. The attack continued to track them but the streams were just about expended by the time they turned around to close in on the human.

 _They've never been able to jump that far before._ _Did_ _one increase_ _really make it this_ _easy to notice their potential_ _?_ Flowey wondered. "Can we put a stop to this now?" The human asked while turning back towards Napstablook. Without warning Napstablook shot more spread rounds at the human to distract them as he projected a spectral knife at their spine. Their enhanced perception allowed them to evade the first set of shots before grabbing the knife which they used to slice away the remaining projectiles.

     "You were ready for everything, but that shouldn't be unless you've seen all of this before," Napstablook said before pausing for a moment. "That's it then, I don't plan on wasting any more time," Napstablook said before vanishing.

     "Don't let your guard down yet, he might have a trick up his sleeve," Flowey said.

     "No," the human responded. "He's actually gone this time," they answered before moving towards the exit.

     "You still seem pretty hot, are you going to be alright?" Flowey asked.

     "Yeah, but I'll be fine," they said while proceeding past the sign mentioning the spider bake sale. Similar to the last time they were here, a Moldsmal happened to pop out of the ground right in front of them. By pointing at the monster and waving their finger from left to right, the human was able to get the Moldsmal to rock from side to side. They couldn't help but smile as such a simple interaction managed to ease the dread of recent events.

     "It's the end of the line for you," Loox said as he and Migosp approached the human. In a moment a wall of flying cockroaches surrounded the human while Loox proceeded to shoot soul projectiles out of his eye. While the human had no issue evading the attacks in the small space, things took a turn for the worst when Loox's attack forced the human into the Moldsmal that was trapped in the box with them.

     "Again?" Flowey said as the human unintentionally brought their foot down on the Moldsmal. All four of them stared on in shock as the creature swelled up before spewing a small fountain of dust into the air while deflating. In a fit of rage the human let out a scream before rushing through the wall of bugs. They then grabbed Loox and Migosp by their heads before slamming them into each other causing them to instantly burst into dust as well.

     "There's no way," they said.

     "I keep telling you to relax, you have to keep believing that we'll fix all of this," Flowey told them.

     "Why even bother!" They yelled. "That was the third time that I killed a monster on accident. It's like I don't even have a choice at this point," they continued. "Either way nothing I do seems to matter, because even if I do manage to follow a path to the end, I'll just ended up starting over yet again. Obviously, I don't have a place in this world if I don't want to start over, but I don't know if I'm ready to let it all go either," they finished.

     "I really want to find some way to help you deal with this, but I'm having as much trouble accepting the nature of this world as you are, because I had never encountered any of this until you got here," Flowey said. "Until you finally come to a decision as to whether or not you'll leave this all behind, I want you to hold onto the compassion that carried you through the underground the first time," Flowey continued.

     "I want to, but I felt ruined ever since I woke up on that bed of flowers again. I never would've gotten my hands dusty if I hadn't been grieved with the thought of losing all I had worked for," they said while putting Flowey on the ground. "I have to ask you to leave Flowey. I don't want to risk losing my cool around you," they said while tying his rather flexible stem in a knot.

     "What are you doing? Get back here!" Flowey shouted as the human left him behind. He tried to advance through the ground to catch up, but the knot in his body prevented him from breaching the floor. A few curses could be heard from Flowey as the distance between the two grew larger and larger until the human could no longer be seen.

     "She didn't give us a phone," the human said as they entered the room of leaf piles. "Nothing's going to be the same. She's not going to make a new set of clothes for me, which means she's not going to give a tutorial on dimensional boxes. The only good that could possibly come from this is if she forgets to make a god-awful pie," they said while storming into the pitfall room. As they descended down the hole they heard a familiar voice as they tried to make their way out.

     "Invaders, Vegetoid will not tolerate," Vegetoid said while popping up next to the lever.

     "This also wasn't supposed to happen," they said as Vegetoid started to shoot miniature sharp carrots at them. The human took the attack head on before checking their self out. It didn't seem nearly as painful as they expected and there was barely any visible damage on them.

     "An increase in damage threshold huh? That would've came in handy so many times. Sorry Vegetoid, there'll be no gathering this time. In fact, four of the guests have already departed," the human told him.

     "You're crazy, Vegetoid doesn't know what you're talking about," Vegetoid responded.

     "Story of my life, you're not the first who won't remember or understand," they continued.

     "Crazy person, you're living a lie," Vegetoid said.

     "You're right," the human said angrily. They then proceeded to kick Vegetoid into the nearest wall where it broke into a multitude orange chunks. A moment passed as the human stood at the bottom of the pit with a glare of intensity on their face. After taking a deep breath they advanced up the stairs before proceeding past the deactivated spike wall.  _No host,_ _means_ _no gathering,_ they thought. At the same time they felt pressure welling in their soul signifying that their level was increasing yet again.

     "I can't believe they did this to me," Flowey said as he dragged himself across the ground to try to reach the next room.  _It's dangerous for you to go on when you're uncertain like this._ _If they keep_ _this_ _up_ _for too long_ _it_ _will lead to violent tendencies,_ Flowey thought. Meanwhile the human had made it to Toriel's house, where they attempted once more to create a soul anchor outside of her house. 

     "Seriously?" The human said with a sigh as their efforts proved futile.  _Without the drive to push forward I can't make a soul anchor, and without a soul anchor I can't go back on this path. Yet another vicious loop I'm stuck in,_ they thought before knocking on the door.

     "Greetings my child. Oh dear, your clothes are a mess! It may be short notice, but give me some time and I'll put another set together for you," Toriel said. "Interesting, wasn't there some sort of flower creature with you the last time we met?" She asked.

     "We're no longer traveling together," the human answered with a somber expression. "Don't worry about it, he shouldn't be showing up anytime soon," they continued.

     “Oh, don't look so down. It must be hard to accept the thought of losing a friend,” she said while welcoming them into her home.

     “It's more than that. Losing one friend would've been hard enough, but it feels like all of them are gone,” they responded.

     “I'm sorry, it must feel like you've left an entire world behind. Know that I'll do my best to make the underground a comfortable place for you,“ Toriel said while leading them to the guest room.

     "I couldn't have said it better myself. In any case, you've done more than you know, and I don't plan on involving you in all of this again," they said while breaking away from her.

     "My child, what are you saying?" Toriel asked while reaching out to them with one hand.

     "I'm leaving now, it won't do either of us any good to have me stick around," they said while taking the stairs leading to the ruins' exit.

     "No. Please no! Don't do that my child," Toriel said while following close behind. "I don't know what it is that you're missing, but I assure you that in due time we can make new and joyous memories to replace the loss you feel inside," she continued.

     "That's the problem. Neither of us should have to wish for that because we should already be there," they said while continuing down the corridor.

     "You're proving to be rather hard to follow, and I know how it is to not get a point across clearly," she responded. At this point the two were closing in on the door that would get them out of the ruins and into Snowdin.

     "I want to believe so badly that we suffered through this together, but that's not really true seeing how for you it never happened in the first place. In any case, farewell," the human said as they approached the exit door. Suddenly their path was blocked off by a wall of flame, and upon turning around they could see Toriel holding one hand out in their direction yet again.

     "Don't do this please. I'd hate to be alone and it's dangerous for you to go out there. I don't want this to escalate any further, just go back upstairs please," she said while beckoning them with one hand.

     "No, I have to go now. None of this will truly end until I'm ready," they said.

     "I said, go to your room!" Toriel shouted while projecting her Cyclonic Blaze attack at the human. With no resistance whatsoever, they took the attack head on causing Toriel to gasp while putting both hands over her face. "Please," she said as the human fought back onto both feet while patting down the flames. "Don't do this anymore," but the human shook their head no.

 _I can't believe this child,_ Toriel thought as she proceeded to hurl a torrent of miniature fireballs at the human, but they continued to meet her with a steely gaze and an unflinching resolve.  _I don't want them to go, but they're being very stubborn. Still, someone comes to mind whenever they look at me like that,_ she continued to think. Her attacks began tracking the human less and less each time until eventually all the miniature fireballs started to miss them completely.

     "I just can't," she said while falling to both knees. "I don't want to forget, but I don't want to cause so much pain either," she continued. At the same time all of the surrounding flames were extinguished.

     "This is supposed to be a very emotional moment for the both of us. I'm impressed by the fact you chose to peacefully resolve this on your own. However, these moments have felt unrewarding recently. I don't know whether it's fear, anger, or curiosity causing me to carry on this way, but it feels like I'm fated to suffer," they said while walking towards her.

     "I wish I could bring myself to understand you," Toriel responded before burying her face in both hands while she sobbed.

     "Amazing, to think that the roles used to be reversed. Still, I can't push forward expecting the same outcomes," they said while looking at their own hand.  _Can I go far enough to bring about those changes? To think this is exactly what I was trying to stop Sans from doing,_ they thought while gazing at Toriel.  _No more oppressing myself. She'll just suffer here all alone anyway. It's not like it's really the end for her. I'll just strike her and get it over with!_ They thought while raising their right arm.

     "Ow, what are you trying to pull?" Toriel said angrily. She then proceeded to rub her shoulder where the human had just punched her.

     "So, you are more durable, I was actually afraid of touching anyone else to be honest," the human said.  _I held back. It's too hard for me to want to hurt her. I need a soul anchor, but I can't handle the acts needed to make new outcomes._

     "Look, we can talk about this," Toriel said while reaching out to them.

     "Stay back," the human said while backing away. Toriel stood up and began walking towards them. At the same time, she managed to smile as the tears kept streaming down her face.

     "You don't know what you want to do right now, huh. Behind those eyes is a pain too deep for me to reach," she said.

     "I told you to back off," they said as she closed in. Their mind began racing as she came close to wrapping both arms around them. "Don't touch me!" They said before punching her in the chest.

     "It's ok my child," Toriel said as she managed to embrace them anyway. Tears started to form in the human's eyes as well as they couldn't help but hug her back.

     "Why? You've seen the dust scattered about my hands and my clothes. You know that I've been hurting monsters, so how could you possibly bring yourself to show kindness to me even after I attacked you?" They asked.

     "I know this isn't what you want. If you were serious about hurting me, I wouldn't be able to stand right now," Toriel explained. "Many of us have done things we didn't really want to, and I'm no exception. I don't even remember the names of my children, yet I was willing to kill if it meant holding onto them in the slightest. No one looks out for each other around here. I should've known the only way to learn more about them would be to ask them myself," she said as dust began to fall from her chest where the human had punched her. "There's a lot riding on you, but don't give in. You'll be good, won't you?" She said before fading away.

     "I wasn't strong enough," the human said as Toriel's dust now fell off of their head and shoulders. "If I can't bring myself to break the bond with one monster, there's no way I can separate myself from this entire world," they said. Dread washed over them as they knelt down to grab Toriel's robe.

 _Hatred is definitely the winner. It makes no sense. She accepted the end and felt relieved about it, almost as if she was better off because of it. To think she_ _was going_ _out of_ _her_ _way to_ _find the good in_ _me_ _this time._ _I didn't get to see her get her act together until my journey was just about over, yet the death of everyone up to this point was enough to warrant her snapping back to her senses for a few moments. Such a ridiculous world this is,_ they thought.

     "Hello! Is anyone here?" Flowey called out from the front of the house.  _Flowey_ _, even though I had hindered him_ _, he_ _still managed to make it pretty far_ _?_ _He has to be mad at me, or is he worried? Either way he won't be better off after seeing this,_ the human thought. "Please tell me you kept it together kid," Flowey said while descending down the stairs. He rolled across the ground to move as quick as he could without the knot bothering him.

     "There you are!" He said while rolling around the corner of the corridor.  _I should've left, there was no reason to stick around here. However, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen next,_ they thought while brushing dust off of their self. "Where's Toriel?" He asked but the answer became clear when he noticed the robe littered with dust on the ground. "Look, I'm sure you're upset, but it doesn't have to stay this way," Flowey said.

     "I can't change the path Flowey, and believe it or not, she was perfectly fine with ending it this way, and it made me very angry. You know that I've been feeling pretty lost as of late, but it hasn't gotten any better," they told him.

     "Keep trying, I know you'll be able to make a soul anchor. Just keep in mind the fact that it's still possible to fix this," Flowey responded.

     "It makes no sense how well you're able to handle all of this. How does none of this eat at you when they were your friends as well?" they said.

     "Please don't do that. This has been extremely rough on me as well, especially since you've been making it hard for me to help you. I know there's still a limit to how much I can express myself without an actual soul, but I believe I still care," he told them.

     "Even if I fix things it won't be permanent, even if it was, it wouldn't change the fact that I'm not the same anymore. Flowey, I know it sounds pretty messed up, but the way that Moldsmal died was somewhat entertaining," they told him. Flowey went wide-eyed as he wanted to support them but couldn't find any words for this situation. "That's what I thought was going to happen," the human said while turning around.

     "Wait, where are you going?" He shouted while they opened the door.

     "It's clear that you'll be in danger if you keep hanging around me. Here you'll be safe," they said while closing the doors behind them.

     "No, come back!" Flowey said but he got to the door one moment too late. They could hear him shouting through the door as they left but they ignored him while proceeding into the Snowdin Forest. As they traversed the snowy trail the hidden camera went completely ignored. Even as rustling came from the surrounding bushes, the human took their time walking the path up until they had approached the gate. The human couldn't help but feel impatient as the noises persisted for a moment even after they had stopped moving.

     "What are you waiting for?" The human said while turning around. They then placed their hand on their shoulder before Sans could catch them by surprise.

     "You've got some pretty sharp senses," Sans said while appearing in front of them. "I was expecting to see a familiar face coming from the ruins. Pretty short guy, takes on the form of a plant, likes to travel through the ground. You haven't seen anything like that around, have you?" He asked. "Don't worry about it," he said upon seeing the distraught look on the human's face.

     "Sans, do you remember anything?" They asked him.

     "Not at all, I purposely reject any information I retain so there's nothing to care about the following morning," he responded.

     "Sans, be serious. I know about the lower level of the King's Castle," they told him.

     "I'm not your friend kid, any crisis you experience is your plight alone. I'm just a bag of bones fighting off constant boredom, so spare me your issues please. Speaking of which, it sounds like my bro is on his way. Have fun with that, you probably already know what the deal is," he said before teleporting away.  _Not sure what to make of this. I wasn't alone_ _the first_ _time I met Papyrus_ _,_ the human thought before walking through the unlocked gate.

     "Sans! Where are you?" Papyrus shouted. The human patiently waited out of curiosity as he made his way past San's sentry station. "Where could that bothersome brother of mine be this time?" Papyrus said while looking around. "Who are you supposed to be?" He asked upon seeing the human.  _How should I go about this? Should I spin a lie for him? Nah, not sure where I'd go with it anyway,_ they thought.

     "I'm a human, just happened to get lost around here," they responded.

     "Human? Things can't possibly end well for a human in the underground. If I'm to become the most notorious member of the Royal Guard then I'll have to capture you, but not before putting your abilities to the test," Papyrus responded.

     "Seems like a lot of work, don't you think? There has to be something more valuable to you than social standing, right?" They asked him.

     "Not a chance, you'll suffer if you don't make a name for yourself down here, and I refuse to let the world go on without a figure as great as I," he said before laughing menacingly. "Strange, a human wouldn't be foolish enough to compromise the element of surprise,” he said while tapping his chin bone. “Well, human or not, it's about time I set up the new traps anyway," he said while turning around but they grabbed his hand before he could get anywhere. "Boundaries please, I don't know what you think you're doing, but we don't know each other that well," Papyrus said while yanking his hand away.

     "Funny you say that, because the way I see it, you haven't changed at all," they said before grabbing onto his cape.

     "The audacity of you cretins," Papyrus said while knocking them back a bit with a swift kick. "I have no interest in weak creatures that can't even fend for themselves. You're nothing but a stepping stone in the path of my ideal future," he said while walking over to them.

 _I should've known better,_ the human thought as they continued to lay in the snow on their back with Papyrus still ranting overhead.  _Papyrus, to think you're one of my so-called friends. None of you are like_ _Toriel_ _, because she never wanted any of this. Meanwhile the rest of you have devoted your lives to hatred and are always out to get one another,_ they continued to think. Meanwhile Papyrus finished his rant and proceeded to walk away once more.

     "Wait," the human said while getting up. "Can I say one more thing before you go?" They asked. Papyrus simply laughed as he came to a stop before turning around.

     "There's nothing you could possibly say to me that'll- Die!" The human interrupted before striking his rib cage with their right fist. They definitely didn't hold back this time, and as a result Papyrus's head went flying into the air as they shattered his rib cage. As his head firmly landed in the snow, Papyrus was clearly awestruck as the rest of his body faded into dust. 

     "Ow!" The human said while holding their right hand in their left.  _That makes no sense, his bones felt just like real bones. Is he destined to end up like this just because he's a monster?_  They wondered.

     "Such physical matter, so you were telling the truth about being a human," Papyrus said. "I can't believe you caught me off guard so easily, it's humiliating," he continued. "I don't need your pity," he said while taking note of the human's remorseful expression. "Even though my time is at an end, know that you'll soon face warriors more seasoned then myself. Once you meet your end, know that humanity will no longer stand above us, in both senses of the phrase," he said before laughing maniacally.

     "I thought you of all people would do a worse job at handling this. Especially seeing how clear your vanity is," the human said while walking over to Papyrus and picking up his head. "Though you think your life is officially over, know that to me you'll always be immortal," they said. As the last of Papyrus's strength gave out, the human then dropped his head which proceeded to burst into dust upon landing.

 _This is the second time my friends were able to handle death so well. I'm actually curious as to how_ _durable_ _the others_ _are,_ _and how they'd_ _react to_ _losing it all. Either way, my bonds won't protect me this time around, so_ _I_ _have to amass power,_ they thought. As they proceeded down the path past the sentry station, they felt just as upset with this world as they were with themselves.

     Meanwhile Sans was lounging about on the roof of his and Papyrus's house where he's been ignoring the world ever since he had ran into the human.  _Obviously, they know about everything. They_ _even_ _blabbed to me about_ _all the stuff_ _I_ _hadn't_ _told_ _anyone._ _I was more than certain that the incidents were being caused by the flower creature, but it seems that this kid is now the one pulling the strings. Nothing to be done about that, however, is this really the way they did things the first time?_ He wondered. As curiosity started to wash over him, he then teleported to the ruins doorway before giving it a knock.

     "Hello? Is anyone out there?" Flowey asked.  _There's no way that can be_ _Toriel_ _,_ Sans thought to himself. He then teleported to the other side of the door before grabbing Flowey from off the ground.

     "It's you, I thought you were behind all of this, but it seems like you've been replaced. Tell me, was that kid really friends with everyone in the past?" He asked while untying Flowey.

     "It's true, they did make friends with everyone after taking the ability to reset from me," Flowey answered.

     "Interesting, the fact that they pulled that off is astonishing. Another question, where is Toriel now?" Sans asked but Flowey gave him a sigh in response.

     "Look behind you," he told him. Sans turned around to see a pile of dust on the floor with the all too familiar robe resting on top of it.

     "I see, if everything you said is true, then the kids had some drastic changes happen recently," he said.

     "They need to snap out of this, maybe you can help me reason with-" Flowey's sentence went unfinished as Sans had teleported the two of them back to his house in Snowdin town. Meanwhile the human was in the process of racing the Snowdin forest.

     "Hello!" The human said while ringing the bell to Doggo's sentry station twice.

     "Knock it off," Doggo said while jabbing a knife near the bell. It was clear that at this point that Doggo couldn't see the human.  _Here we go again. I want to say that he doesn't deserve this, but they're all killers. It's only temporary,_ the human thought while taking a deep breath."What!" Doggo said as the human punched him in the chest.

     "Rest now Doggo, just think of this as a break from the suffering," the human said.

     "Die!" Doggo said while hopping over the counter with a slash. The human winced as he landed a strike on their left arm. He swung in their direction again but it didn't connect seeing how the human backed away with their right hand covering the wound. "You're one of those horrible humans aren't you!" He shouted while falling to one knee. At the same time he raised a hand to his chest where the dust began to pour. "Here to take the future away from us again huh. The other dogs... won't stand for this!" He said before falling over and fading away.

 _Definitely got to stop letting my guard down,_ the human thought while walking over to Doggo's remains. _A blend of hope and anger. That was probably the only normal death response I've seen thus far,_ the human thought while taking one of the knives for their self.  _Well Doggo, we're officially partners in crime now,_  they thought before continuing down the path.

     "This place is much less complicated to traverse when none of Papyrus's traps are set up," they said as they continued past all the contraptions and barricades that impeded them before.  _Just have to make it quick and easy,_ they thought while setting their sights onLesser dog. As the dog followed its patrol route, the human proceeded to sneak up behind it. Lesser Dog heard them as they went in for the strike, yet it didn't turn around in time, so Doggo's knife sliced right through the armor to take it down. Lesser Dog whined one last time before fading away, and the human wanted to regret it, but their wavering heart went silent as their soul level increased again right afterwards.  _I need more power,_ they thought while moving on.

     "I've found something," Dogaressa said as she and Dogamy's investigation lead them to the wandering human.

     "Don't get any closer. Dogs have been disappearing recently, and each scene smelt just like this," Dogamy said while pulling out his halberd.

     "You think this weird thing in front of us has been killing off dogs?" Dogaressa said while pulling out her halberd.

     "Yeah," Dogamy said while sniffing around. "Burn smell, bone smell, a weapon, smells like dog. That doesn't belong to you," he said while pointing the halberd directly at the human, who looked at Doggo's knife in their hand. "We're going to stop you, for all the dogs still left in this world," he said while rushing at them.

     "Such emotion, we haven't even started yet," the human said while ducking under Dogamy's swing. Dogaressa followed up with an overhead slam that they evaded by sliding between the two dogs. Both of them struck at once causing them to recreate the deadlock from the first time they fought the human.

     "Frick," Dogamy said as the human delivered a cut to his chest while running past him.

     "Are you alright?" Dogaressa asked with a concerned expression on her face.

     "Worry about it later," he said while forcing the human away with another swing.  _He survived one, but is that the limit?_ The human thought. Dogaressa continued to back up Dogamy's attack, but with their enhanced perception, the human was able to evade their attacks while finding the blind spots in their formation. As Dogamy went for a left-upward sweep with the halberd, the human slid to his right before jumping on him and knocking him over with another slash.

     "No, please hold on Dogamy," Dogaressa said while trying to track them without hitting him. Dogamy punched the human in the face before using his halberd to balance himself until he was able to get back on both feet.  _Amazing, he legitimately survived two attacks and is still fighting,_ the human thought while ducking under a swing from Dogaressa.

     "I can't let you go, not if it means more dogs will be met with a terrible fate," he said while jabbing the human in the chest with the blunt end of the halberd. He then swept their leg with the halberd's handle before going for a face splitting strike while they were on their back. The human rolled to the left to dodge the attack before kicking off the ground. Dogaressa tried to intercept them as they closed in, but they deflected her thrust with the knife before cutting Dogamy across the chest for the third time.

     "No!" Dogaressa shouted while warding the human away with a swing. She then used her free hand to catch Dogamy before he fell. "You can't die, you and I are going to protect all the dogs together," she told him. With the last of his strength the hugged her as tight as he could.

     "Sorry, I failed. That doesn't mean... you should give up... on your dream," he said before fading away. Rage swelled within Dogaressa as she watched the human wipe a tear from their face while laughing.  _That was amazing, I wish my friends could express such feelings for me now, but none of them remember, so they can't possibly care,_ they thought.

     "I'm going to kill you!" Dogaressa shouted while racing towards them.  _This is new,_ the human thought as they dodged around the attacks.  _She's attacking at a much faster rate than before._ They tried to block one of Dogaressa's strikes as the snow had them off balance. However, coming into direct contact with her was a mistake seeing how her strength was enough to knock them back despite the guard.

     "You're going to pay for this!" She shouted while dragging her halberd through the snow in a wide arc. The swing almost sliced through the human at the waist but they rolled backwards to escape before dashing towards her to deliver the first strike while she readjusted. Despite taking a hit, Dogaressa extended her elbow while turning to hit the human on the left side of their face.

     "Ow, you weren't even fazed by that!" The human said with a smile. Dogaressa went for another overhead slam while they were staggering back, but with a roll to the right they escaped before stabbing the left side of her chest. Powering through the damage, Dogaressa sent the human reeling back with a headbutt which she quickly followed up with a halberd swing that left a solid cut across the human's chest.

     "You're finished," Dogaressa said while rushing them as they fell onto their back.  _No running from this one,_ the human thought. They noticing the halberd was leveled to the perfect height to counter to any sudden movements, so in response to her charge they threw the knife which pierced the armor before lodging itself in her chest. The halberd was dropped as she rapidly began to slow down until she fell to her knees. The human then got up from the ground and stopped her from falling over completely while pulling the knife out of her chest. "Dogamy, I'm sorry," she said with tears running down her face.

     "It's not fair," the human said as Dogaressa faded into dust. "Why can't I be allowed to hold onto the bonds I made! Even if I do save them all again, there's no way I can stop them from trying to get to the surface. There's no way Asriel would ignore the chance to break the barrier either," they continued. Anger began to well up inside as they felt their soul level increase yet again.

     "Fine then," they said while taking Dogaressa's halberd and burying the handle in the snow. Afterwards they did the same thing to Dogamy's halberd before crossing it over with Dogaressa's. They then proceeded to hold both hands out while standing in front of their newly made Halberd Hound's Cross. "If I can't free them from the underground this time," they said while balling both hands into fist. "I'll just have to enjoy destroying them instead," they finished. At the same time immense pressure welled inside of them, and for the first time since they came back, a soul anchor appeared right before their eyes.

     Meanwhile Sans and Flowey continued their talk in Snowdin Town. The two were sharing knowledge with each other in an attempt to piece the puzzle together similar to when they cooperated after the human survived San's judgment. 

     "The path is set from the beginning? Explain," Sans said while the two sat on the front steps.

     "It's pretty weird honestly, like ever since they killed that Froggit it seemed like there was no way they could get away from killing things. It got even worse because one of their incidents bothered them because it actually struck them as amusing. If they could've made one soul anchor, we would've been able to undo all of those deaths, but they couldn't stop their mind from wavering. I still think they can be helped, but I've given it my best shot, so the only thing I could think of is working together to convince them," Flowey told him.

     "No can do, even if I did try to help them undo all this, it doesn't help the fact that they can't forget everything they've seen and done. It's impossible to recreate the world they remember seeing how Toriel's gone. As you mentioned earlier, she played an important role in holding off Asgore as well as pacifying the horde. I can't think of anyone else who could possibly give monster kind the wake up call they need," he continued. More time passed as Flowey attempted to persuade Sans that there could be another way to help them but it was to no avail.

     "What's going on here?" Sans said as multiple voices could be heard coming from the shadows. He then teleported the two of them up to the roof before locating a mob of monsters charging toward the entrance of Snowdin Town. Strange enough there were just as many monsters running away from the scene.

     "We're going to take them out right here and now," a monster said while spurring the rest of them on.

     "There's no way, they already wiped out the first wave in moments," another monster said before joining the retreating mob.

     "This is different, I've only seen the residents act like this whenever there was about to be an attack on Asgore," he said.

     "Weird," Flowey said as he noticed the total number of monsters apart of the runaway group was increasing with each passing moment. "I've got a bad feeling about this, let's go check it out," Flowey said.

     "Alright, sounds interesting enough," Sans said but before he could make the move, he noticed the attacking group was quickly dwindling and those who remained were now in the process of retreating as well.

     "They're too strong! Anyone who can still move needs to get out of there immediately!" Another monster said while taking off. Sans focused hard to peer into the center of the mess where his gaze caught sight of blur. As the crowd scattered he was able to make out a tattered blue and purple shirt along with torn blue pants amidst a storm of white.

     "Oh ho, I'm kind of disappointed in myself for not expecting this," Sans said enthusiastically while jumping off of the roof. Looking down the road both Flowey and Sans recognized the human thoroughly executing the remaining monsters while making their way towards them. A light smile could be seen on their face as the dust fell from their hands as well as their hair while the knife emanated a glow of red soul energy.

     "Sans, Flowey, this is definitely not the way we all met up the first time. What made you decide to check out the ruins Sans?" The human asked.

     "Filling in the blanks, I thought this guy was the one behind all of the time incidents. Not anymore it seems," he answered.

     "So you did remember a few things. Hanging around Flowey huh? What has he told you about me?" They responded.

     "He knows enough," Flowey had cut in. "You have to stop this now!" Flowey told them.

     "Why, everyone I cared about has been dismissing me. Even Sans was direct enough to tell me that we aren't friends, and when I grabbed ahold of Papyrus he told me that we don't know each other like that," they responded.

     "Speaking of which, where is Papyrus right now anyway?" Sans asked.

     "We ran into each other in front of your first sentry station, but the tension between us got pretty high," the human answered.

     "I see, my guess is that you couldn't keep him in one piece, am I right?" Sans said.

     "Afraid not, he's in more pieces than I'm ok with," the human responded with sigh.

     "Why the sense of regret? If you didn't want to kill the big guy then why'd you keep following through with all of this?" Sans asked.

     "I didn't know what to think when Toriel died feeling like an enormous weight was lifted from her shoulders, in fact Papyrus handled his death much better than I would've liked as well. It threw me for a loop that they weren't even trying to fight in the end. I guess I was the only one who was actually afraid of you guys dying. Even monsters I had barely spent time with before fought harder to hold on than they did," they said while looking at Doggo's knife in their hand.

     "Sans," the human said. "How durable are you?" They asked while rushing towards him.

     "Not very durable at all kid," he said while putting down Flowey. "I'm just another monster after all," he responded with a chuckle. As the human attempted to slash him he teleported behind them where he barely dodged the follow up cut they did.

     "What do you think you're doing? There's no need for you to get into a fight with Sans!" Flowey cut in. 

     "I'm not too sure about that. For starters, out of all of my friends he made the biggest mess out of me," they said while striking at him again.

     "In the previous timeline right? Sounds like a good time for me," Sans said while taking two steps back out of their range.

     "Secondly, he always found joy in saying everything I didn't want to hear!" They said while going in for another dash cut.

     "Oh ho, I guess we were friends then. You'd have to care about someone a good deal to be straight forward with them. However, I'm certain I could see myself doing that for fun," Sans responded while slipping around the human mid dash.

     "Most importantly..." The human said while jumping at him with the knife. "I think it'd be fun!" They said as Sans had caught their arm to hold them back. "I hate your living dead attitude. I want you to feel fear. I want you to fight for what little control you have over your life. I want to know how you would feel if you knew you were about to disappear?" They asked.

     "Not much to miss about this place, and I'm sure there's an abundance of corndogs waiting two worlds over," Sans answered while pushing them away.

     "Why haven't you tried to fight back yet? We both know that you could be doing much more than this," the human said angrily. "It's always been so easy for you not to involve yourself, I should've known you'd give a weak reaction," they said.

     "I just find it hard to emotionally invest myself in it all, it's clear that nothing tends to stay permanent in this world anyway. I'd be better off without you and the flower resetting time. Visiting the afterlife might actually be a good vacation for me, especially since it seems to bug you quite a bit," he responded.

     "There you go again," the human said with one hand over their face. "In any case there are more entertaining monsters than you. Stay safe Flowey," they said before walking away.

     "Why did you do that? We have to go after them!" Flowey said.

     "There's nothing you can do, that was an animal standing before us. This is the part where you keep your head down, or else your best friend might actually be the end of you," he responded.

     Meanwhile the human was still in the process of reaching the border between Snowdin and Waterfall. Monsters that didn't get the memo still rushed the human, but at their current soul level they were able to decimate them rather quickly. By the time they were finished only silence accompanied them as they crossed over from one region to the next. The beginning section of Waterfall was as empty as before, but to their surprise Undyne wasn't even around this time to talk about the human's whereabouts with one of her fellow Royal Guard members.

 _It doesn't even seem like the Monster Kid is around here either_ _,_  the human thought while proceeding forward. Another interesting thing they noticed was the fact that the floral bridge was already active meaning that monsters have been through this area rather recently. They gave a sigh of annoyance as they entered the next room filled with echo flowers and star like gems.

     "We were there, everyone was on the verge of enjoying the real stars," they whispered to their self. As they went past the broken placards and boarded the panel that floated from one side of the black lake to the next, they were surprised to see an energy spear descend in front of their path.

     "There you are," Undyne said from across the way. Her voice was almost unrecognizable seeing how it's been so long since the human heard her speak with the helmet on.  _I wasn't expecting this part to remain the same,_ they thought while racing down the path. The chase wasn't nearly as rough this time seeing how they were a lot faster now.

 _The moment of truth,_ the human thought while sliding into grass. They rolled into the wall the exact same way they did the first time while waiting for Undyne to approach. Undyne searched as thoroughly as one eye could allow while moving through the grass. As she came to a stop the human gave a huge smile as Undyne reached into the grass and pulled out their favorite armless monster.

     "Oh, it's you," Monster Kid said, but Undyne was actually rather quiet for the most part. Monster Kid and the human both gave a look of surprise as Undyne placed Monster Kid on the ground before taking her helmet off.

     "Look, I know I'm not your favorite person and that's perfectly fine, but right now you have to trust me when I say that you're not safe here. There's a dangerous human running about and I've been informed that a large number of monsters have perished in its wake. So please, get out as soon as you can, because it's not your time to leave this world," she said before putting her helmet back on. As she leapt away Monster Kid was just as surprised as the human, but that didn't stop them from heeding her warning.

 _Why couldn't that be me?_ The human wondered while somewhat envious of the concern Undyne showed Monster Kid. As they advanced, Monster Kid was nowhere to be seen as they came across the cavern of false rain and gazing upon the King's castle all alone gave them a sense of longing that enhanced the bitterness they were feeling.

     "Funny, I wouldn't have been able to do this on my own before," the human said while jumping up to the ledge Monster Kid had helped them traverse the first time. They also ignored the placards explaining the war of humans and monsters before immediately advancing onto the bridges above the abyss.

     "Odd, she's not here this time. Could it be that her conversation with Monster Kid ended too quickly?" The human wondered. They then proceeded to advance past all of the bridges, except as they were nearing the end, they heard the masked heroine's voice reverberate from beneath them.

     "So, this is where you were hiding," she said while jumping up from one bridge to the next. "Give up, you're cornered so turn around and fight," she said as they slowly backed up into the dead-end path.  _I_ _could probably kill her now. Monster Kid would certainly be rattled if I chased them with one of_ _Undyne's_ _spears in hand,_ the human thought while gazing over the ledge.  _Nah, it just doesn't feel like the proper time or place,_  they thought while cycling their soul energy into the knife.

     "What are you trying to pull," Undyne said as the human jabbed the knife in the bridge before placing their foot on the handle. They then waved goodbye before stomping down on the knife causing a burst of soul power to destroy the bridge beneath them. "What in the world? Hey, this isn't over punk!" Undyne shouted as the human went falling into the dark.

 _That was quite the memory the first time, it was like falling into a dream about falling. Anguish closing in all around until the mysterious hands reach up from below. To think that such an awe-inspiring moment was ruined for me now,_ they thought. Immediately afterwards, they fell onto the bed of flowers below. No memory, no voice, no hands this time. Only the ringing in their head and the pain of their broken arm accompanied them as they rolled on their back to take a breather.

     "Well that's just great," the human said irritably upon noticing the knife stuck in their side. They yanked the knife out before getting up and stumbling over to the large bridge piece that floated at the base of the waterfall. "I will outlive them all. No matter how many resist, I'll make dust out of all of them. This is the only use for my determination now," they said while generating another soul anchor.

     "Wonder how she's doing now, it was a small twist in my opinion but I can't but wonder what I'll get out of it," they said while quickly moving through the garbage dump.

     "Hey, don't think you can just ignore me," the Mad Dummy said from behind them.

     "Oh, this was a thing," the human said while turning around. "There's someone I'm trying to meet up with so I'd rather not do this," the human told him.

     "I've heard about you, you've been going around hacking monsters in every which direction yet you're not even going to try to fight me? Ridiculousness! You're probably just worried about the fact that my physical immunity means you don't stand a chance!" The dummy shouted.

     "Oh yeah, that was also a thing," the human said. "That sounds like a waste of our time, more reason for me to move along," the human responded. The Mad Dummy ignored them while creating its soul replicas but finding the real one was too easy at the human's current soul level.

     "Die die die!" The dummy shouted while shooting numerous soul projectiles, but the human simply sliced them all out of the air with Doggo's knife.

     "Here we go, you'll have to be more thorough if this is to end anytime soon," the human responded.

     "Silence!" The dummy responded but despite his solid effort, not a single hit proceeded to land.

     "This is awkward, if this carries on for too long you and I might have to become the best of friends," the human responded.

     "Enough!" The dummy shouted while launching a flurry of soul bullets at them, but the results were still the same. "What's this?" The dummy said while it's soul energy manifested in a shell around itself. "The possession, I'm finally fusing with this body properly," it said in astonishment.

     "Really? That's great! Now that your soul and body are united, I can put an end to this!" The human said while charging the knife with their soul energy.

     "Wait!" The dummy shouted, but as the human stabbed it, the soul energy erupted forth vaporizing the dummy in an instant. 

     "Rats, I jumped the gun on that one, he didn't even give a final reaction," the human said before making their exit with a shrug. Making up for lost time, they then went racing past Napstablook's house and the maze of glow in the dark stones until they had come across the corridor where Undyne had cornered them in front of the Monster Kid.

     "This is odd, the place isn't blacked out like it was before," they said as they noticed the echo flower in the distance and the water filled path on their left. "Monster Kid, I was ecstatic when they stood up for me, but now I'm only a monster killer that they were warned to stay away from," the human said while traversing the path to the left. As they closed in on the bridge they let out a gasp of surprise as the Monster Kid in question was lying face first in front of them.

     "Ow, not again," the Monster Kid said.  _They're actually here!_ The human thought while stepping onto the bridge.  _They're completely defenseless, it'd be over in an instant,_ they continued to think. The human calmly approached with the knife drawn, but after staring for a bit they let out a sigh before helping the silent struggler get back on its feet.

 _What am I doing? I want to lash out at you! I want you to be a part of the problem. However, I know that's not the case. All of my friends have been willing to kill me twice now. It's become easy for me to see them at their worst while we're fighting, yet you're the only one who has never done anything. Why can't you give me a reason to hate you,_ the human thought while tightly clutching the knife behind their back.

     "Yo, thanks for that," the Monster Kid said while getting back onto both feet. "I happened to fall while trying to get out of here. I heard about all the monsters disappearing recently from the Royal Guard's Captain. Did she reach out to you as well?" They asked the human.

     "Kind of," the human said with a shrug and a nervous smile.

     "We're not too fond of each other most of the time, yet today she didn't even bother to gripe about running into me like usual, in fact it seemed like she was legitimately concerned. It was a side of her that I had never seen before, and it made think that at the end of the day, she might actually consider me a friend," they finished. The human paused with one eyebrow raised before proceeding to let out an unnerving laugh.

     "That'll do it," they responded while pointing the knife at the Monster Kid. "I'm kind of jealous honestly, you don't feel like anything's missing, instead you're able to proceed without any doubt that your actions are permanent. It's like I'm the only one who can’t make a point that sticks,” they complained.

     "Chill out yo, what's going on with you?" The monster kid nervously asked.

     "Undyne and I used to be friends, in fact you and I were good friends as well. We had a nice view of the King's Castle together and you also helped me get out of Waterfall, yet all of that was undone, and now everyone only acknowledges me as a threat," they said while slowly walking closer.

     "I have no idea what you're talking about... wait a minute. You're the dangerous monster killing human that's been running around!" The monster kid said while falling backwards.

     "That's right. There's no other option now. To let go of it all or start from the beginning again and again. Which would you choose?" The human asked.

     "Get away from them!" Undyne shouted while descending from the sky right in front of the human. Meanwhile the monster kid got up again before running away. "You've been a major thorn in my side all day. Everywhere you went countless monsters would run up to me either crying or complaining, it's pathetic. I thought after all this time they'd finally start fighting their own battles," she said while raising her spear. "I guess it's not completely their fault, I have a stake in this as well and it is my job. Either way, I'll be better off with you dead," she said while running towards them.

 _Well that was straight forward enough, some things never change I guess,_ the human thought as they sidestepped her thrust and ducked under her left hook. Undyne back stepped out of reach as they slashed at her before dashing back in with a kick. The human saw this coming and tossed the knife up before catching her leg with their left hand.

 _How did they react so_ _fast!_ Undyne thought as the human pulled her closer. Meanwhile they caught the falling knife in their right hand before leaving a deep gash across Undyne's chest. As she screamed in pain, the human knocked her to the ground with a shoulder charge.

     "Only one strike? I was expecting so much more," the human said while walking over to her.

     "Such power, how many monsters had to perish for you to gain that strength," Undyne said as she sat up with one hand over the wound.

     "Numbers don't matter, what's important are the emotions monsters give off in their final moments. The disbelief you felt upon taking that strike, and the fury of being shut down, I know it all too well," they said as she gave them the most intense of stares. "I wanted more of it but I guess I'll have to occupy myself elsewhere since our time together was much shorter than desired," the human said while ripping off her eye patch.

     "Where do you think you're going punk! I refuse to let this end just yet!" Undyne shouted as the human walked away, but her body felt like it was on the verge of breaking apart.

     "I'm sure the wind will blow your dust away in due time," the human said while tying the eye patch around a small stalagmite on the other side of the bridge. "Farewell Undyne, you won't be forgotten," they said while walking away.

     "No! Get back here!" She shouted. Her stability felt like it was rapidly dropping, but the only thing running through her mind was putting everything she had into fighting back. "I refuse, I will not sit by as you trample over the future of monster kind! NGAHH!" She shouted before releasing an explosive wave of soul energy from within.

     "What in the world?" The human said while turning around. A whirlwind of dust, armor, and soul energy took Undyne's place on the bridge. The human watched in fascination as the armor aligned itself amidst the whirlwind while the dust began to converge on the inside of the armor set. "No way," the human said with a smile on their face as they noticed the dust form together in the shape of limbs.

     "We're not finished here," Undyne said as her color returned and her armor took on a new shape. "I will show you," she said as her hair grew and a beam of soul energy shot forth from the eye socket her eyepatch once covered. "Humanity, is NOT above me!" She shouted once more.

     "Beautiful," the human said as Undyne descended. "You're really bent on defying the balance of power between humans and monsters," they continued.

     "Shut up," she said while boosting into them with a flying knee strike to the stomach.  _Wow that was painful,_ the human thought as they went sliding away.  _Still, this makes me happy for some reason. If anyone could understand the outrage of the limits imposed by this world, it'd have to be her,_ they continued to think.

     "I refuse to believe that humans are by nature superior to monsters," she said while gliding across the ground. The human rolled onto their feet before swinging low with the knife to counter her. "I'll take it all back, and none of you will stop me," Undyne said while flipping over them. She then grabbed them by the skull before tossing them into the mountain pass leading to Hotland.

 _I_ _actually want her to succeed, because if she can escape this fate. Then perhaps there's a chance for me to have a life outside the mountain as well. I can't fake this battle either, we'll truly find out if a monster can transcend a human here and now,_ the human thought while sitting up from their personal crater. "Good moves Undyne, but I've only scratched the surface of my new potential. If you want to reclaim the stars then you'll have to try much harder than that," the human told her.

     "I was counting on it," Undyne said while channeling soul energy into one hand. As the human jumped away from the mountain, Undyne punched a hole in it with her Cyan Moonflower Beam.

     "One handed this time, definitely an improvement," they said while landing behind her.

     "That should be none of your business punk," she responded while generating another spear in her hands.

     "Of course," the human said while turning around with another knife slash. Undyne blocked the strike with the upgraded claw extensions that came with the new armor set before going for a spear thrust. Upon pushing her guard aside with the knife, the human counterstriked with another cut to the chest.

     "I'll definitely stick around for more than one hit this time," Undyne said while knocking them back with a headbutt. "I'm sure neither of us would be happy with too short of a battle," she said while levitating multiple spears around herself.

     "That sounded rather personal. I didn't give the best first impression huh," the human said while laughing mid-sentence.

     "I was ready to make you suffer either way," she said while projecting her spears at them. Undyne then condensed the beam of soul energy in her eye until it became a focused ray. She bounced the ray off of her own spears at an angle to burn the human's left shoulder and disrupt their defense against the remaining spears.

     "Ah!" The human said as a multitude of spears protruded from their body. "That's a neat trick," they said while pulling two of them out. "You picked a target and hit it despite using several moving objects to redirect the attack. The precision and reaction time needed to pull that off is a gift humans dream of," they said while pulling the rest of her spears out.

     "Having a world of dreams become a part of reality, that's the vision that humanity ruined out of fear. Holding power and physicality over us was the next step, not too different from what you're doing now. It's time for humans to own up to all the wrong they've done by us," she said while launching three more spears their way.

     "They can't give you that. More than likely the humans above won't be able to answer for the ones who came before them. Case and point, me," the human said while sliding under the attack. As they closed in on her a loud clang was heard as the knife clashed against her claws yet again.

     "That just means all of you are in the way," Undyne said before headbutting them and cutting them across the chest with the claws.

     "You know, I started to feel the same way about all those monsters I killed on my way here!" The human responded before elbowing her and stabbing her right shoulder.

     "Enough!" Undyne shouted while aiming a punch at their chest. They blocked the attack but the force was still enough to knock them over on her back. Meanwhile Undyne used her wind driver boots to invert herself while directly above them in mid-air.

     "Cyan Rainstorm!" She shouted while showering the area below with three times as many spears than usual. On top of that, she focused the ray of soul energy from her eye and bounced the beam down until it deflected off the spears below as she spun. The human started slashing more spears out of the sky as they tried to escape the area of effect. However, Undyne predicted their movements and aligned them with her own allowing her to land four hits with her ray of soul energy.

     "This is getting old," the human said while bouncing the ray off of their knife to send it back at her. Undyne immediately shifted in mid-air to evade the counter before going right side up again.

     "Try this out then," she said with a smile. "Burst Dread Wind," the new version of Undyne's signature move sent four hyper rotating spears at them with one toss. Several cuts appeared on their back as well as the back of their legs as the human evaded the first two. The unexpected damage caused them to fall to one knee where they caught the remaining two spears at the cost of doing considerable damage to their hands.

     "That was just the warm up," Undyne said while closing in from above. "Fellraiser's Dread Wind!" She shouted while plunging a tremendous spear into the ground. The human rolled backwards to evade the attack as it drove into the earth, but in an instant they were pulled back toward it as the force from the spin acted outside inward. Her attack then exploded while causing smaller hyper rotating spears to shoot up from the ground.

     "Outstanding," the human said as the extensive damage caused them to fall over. "With power as fantastic as this, it's a shame that you desire something as ordinary as physicality," they said while pulling more spears out of their self.

     "That physicality isn't so lack luster when everything you know can end at the toss of a stone!" She said while falling onto them. "Overdriven Blast!" She said as the spear ran them through, like normal the spear tore through them at seven different places but this time each end double backed through their body twice resulting in twenty two stabs.

     "You got me there," the human responded before coughing up blood. "It's probably the only weakness you all have," they continued. "Everything about you all is extraordinary, especially the food," the human said while pulling out an unharmed cinnamon bunny.

     "You're going to snack?" Undyne said with a laugh. She then ripped the spear out of them. "Go ahead, it'll be fun to tear you apart a second time," she said while walking towards the mountain pass.

     "Don't get too comfortable," the human said while crushing the cinnamon bunny in one hand. "I don't plan on wasting anymore of your time," they finished. By applying pressure with their soul energy, the human forced the healing magics into their body before throwing the rest to the side.

     "That's pretty handy, but will it be worth sitting on death's doorstep again?" Undyne questioned.

     "I don't stress myself with stuff like that anymore. Believe it or not, I was actually willing to face the end not too long ago," the human responed while getting back onto both feet.

     "Silence, it's time for one of us to break the tie," Undyne said while charging them. Each strike of the knife was effective cancelled by the strength of her fists as she went toe to toe with the human.

     "There was never really a tie, this battle has already been decided," the human said while going for a dash strike. Undyne pushed down on their head with one hand before flipping over them and kicking them away. Meanwhile the human rebounded with a roll before channeling their soul energy through the knife. "Ruin Razor," the human said while swinging the knife.

 _That attack seems like a circular blade wave. It's faster but isn't much of a threat,_ Undyne thought while dodging around it. Meanwhile the human rushed her, but she quickly countered the incoming slash with the claws on her gauntlets. While it appeared they were getting nowhere, Undyne raised in eyebrow of confusion as the human give her a smirk.

     "You fell for it," they said as the Ruin Razor rolled into Undyne's back. They then kicked her away as her guard was broken.  _I still want you to win, but by no means can I give it to you. You have to be able to take it from me,_ the human thought as their soul energy went into the knife once more.

     "That's not enough to take me down. I will beat you no matter what,"Undyne said while readying another Burst Dread Wind.  _No matter the trick they aren't going to break me,_ she thought. 

     "Persisting Sharpness," the human said as the spears came flying their way. Despite hitting each spear for a brief moment, every strike they did seemed to cut well beyond the knife's range causing each attack to be leveled in an instant.

     "Duality Burst," Undyne said while tossing another giant spear their way. The attack exploded into several normal sized spears that switched from normal to reverse trajectory after flying past the human.

     "Blade Cyclone," the human said while performing a powerful swing of the knife. The force cycled around them in a circle destroying every spear that approached from the front and the back. "Hacking and slashing, this isn't too interesting as far as I'm concerned. However, physical soul manifestation tends to be rather easy," the human explained.

     "It still won't be enough, by the end of this you will be crushed!" Undyne shouted while jumping over them. "Fellraiser's Dread Wind!" Undyne continued while bringing the spear down.

     "Ruin Uppercleave!" The human said while performing a slash strong enough to launch them off the ground. The attack managed cut through the spear as well as land a direct hit on Undyne, but they took damage from the spear's explosion which paid off by disrupting the remainder of the attack. Immediately afterwards, both the human and Undyne ended up hitting the ground at the same time.

     "You think you're so special," Undyne said while being the first to rise. "Compared to us, you do close to nothing. Everything our society possesses is beyond anything you could hope to achieve. So you altered history to send us away while making yourselves out to be heroes. I refuse to have you escape death if it means you can only succeed at our expense!" She said while lobbing several spears in the air. She then shot rays out of her eye that bounced off the spears to add on to the rain of soul energy.

 _She has every reason to hate me, even though she doesn't know the full story. I've done unacceptable things to them out of curiosity, but I can't stop now. To think in a situation as emotional as this I'm having so much fun,_ the human thought as they dodged and sliced while taking a hit here and there.

     "I won't offer you a second chance this time," Undyne said while conjuring another spear. "This is where you lose," she finished.

     "If a monster can surpass a human, this is your only chance to prove it," the human said while channeling soul energy into the knife. The two then started racing towards each other while picking up the pace with each step.

     "Overdriven Blast!" Undyne shouted while thrusting mid-charge.

     "Good choice," the human said with a smile. "Unfortunately, I'm out of ideas already," they said before racing towards her. As Undyne came zooming by, the human met her with their usual cut and run maneuver. As the two came to a stop after passing each other, there was a moment of silence until Undyne held one hand over her left side.

     "It can't be," Undyne said while falling to one knee. The human fell over completely for they had three cuts in their side compared to the one they landed on Undyne. "To think that even with all of that power, it still wasn't enough," Undyne said as she started to stain the floor with her wound.

     "You're-Ow! You're definitely more durable than the rest. Hmm, monsters aren't supposed to bleed. Wait... Oh my gosh, you're melting! I've dusted many of them on my way here but this is definitely a new experience!" The human said while giving her a gaze of amusement.

     "Shut up!" Undyne shouted while looking their way. She tried to focus the soul energy in her eye to make another ray but it failed seeing how that side of her face was starting to give way as well. She then conjured several spears but they all fell out of the sky instantly. With the last of her power she ran over to the human before grabbing them with one hand while barely generating a spear in the other.

     "Uh oh, if you still have any strength left, this might actually be the end of me," the human said while taking her long red hair in both hands. Meanwhile Undyne's arm happened to melt off just as she was about to drive the spear home. "That's pretty sad. I didn't think our fight would be settled by seeing which one of us dies slower," the human said as the spear tumbled away. 

     "I... won't... rest. Not until... you're destroyed," Undyne said while trying to strangle them with her remaining hand. "One advantage, that's the only thing... you have over monsters. Even if... it's the last thing I do, I... will... surpass it!" She shouted while barely maintaining a firm grip on their neck. However, she wasn't able to hold out for too long seeing how her only hand was slowly dissolving as well.

     "Come on, I know I can push myself beyond this," she said as her entire lower body began to collapse into a puddle. "I can't believe this, all that was left was to finish you off and everything literally fell apart," she said while giving them an aggravated look. "You better hope there's nothing for me to hold onto after I die, because if there is, know that I will come back for you, and when I do, nothing will stop me from ripping out your soul!" She said as all that was left of her slowly sank to the ground before evaporating into nothingness.

     "She was so close," the human said after regaining their breath. "That was a harrowing situation for me, but I admired that death quote of hers. It made me wonder what it would've been like if she was standing in my shoes with minimal control over time. Doesn't matter now, nothing that happens here will stick with them anyway," they said while triggering another soul anchor at the beginning of the mountain pass. All of their injuries slowly started to mend and vanish as determination flew throughout their body upon witnessing Undyne's end.

     Upon heading into the mountain pass, the human took their time along the path to Hotland. They couldn't help but look at the introductory sign and remember the damage Undyne had did the first time they came through. Remembering how helpless they were back then revived some unpleasant memories, but they pushed it all aside as they approached the water dispenser where Undyne thoroughly rejected their friendship.

 _It was definitely one of my toughest challenges. She was equally impressive and unyielding._ _Asgore_ _had her pledge undying loyalty, and she spent every moment fulfilling that duty. Even when it seemed like the end for her she kept fighting on,_ the human thought while getting a cup of water for their self.  _What did she say that time? I remember, she said there will be freedom for a new generation of stronger monsters. If it wasn't for the loop, that dream could've been realized for all monsters,_ they thought.

     "Huh?" They said as they came across the entrance to Alphys's lab. They then threw the knife ahead of them where it landed just in front of the entryway. "Odd that no traps are active this time either," the human said while walking up to the door.

 _What am I?_ They wondered as their mind got lost in thought yet again.  _Their world tends to twist and unravel with my existence being at the center of it all. I didn't expect it to bite me in the end_ _, and I thought I was doing so well when_ _Asgore_ _acknowledged as the mirror of the first. At the same time it makes me curious. I wonder how he'll react if I put an end to all this. Will he surprise me like_ _Toriel_ _did? Is his persona something I can fight in the first place?_ They wondered.

     "This is definitely a twist," the human said as they noticed all of the lights in Alphys's lab were on already. No machine guns or oversized monitors greeted them as they walked through. Instead the only thing that stuck out was a Metta-mini with a sticker that said give me a push lying in the middle of the floor.  _It'd be rather fun if this was a trap, but for him it seems too direct and not flashy enough,_ they thought while pushing the button on the mini. Suddenly the mini's speaker turned on allowing Mettaton's voice to come in through the other side.

     "Hello dear, glad that you managed to come this far. Then again, it's not like anyone was going to be able to stop you. Let's get serious, I'm all into having some laughs and some good scares to go with them. However, we'll end up losing the entire audience if you keep this up. Nonetheless I'm still convinced that everyone should have access to entertainment, so I've prepared a stage that would best fit a battle to the death between us," he said.

     "Interesting, but I'm kind of curious as to where the royal scientist went. I know that this place isn't yours," the human told him.

     "Typical, she always tends to be everyone's main focus. No point in worrying about her, you'll never find her if she doesn't want you to. Between you and Asgore, most of the impatient monsters have met their end rather quickly while the more level-headed ones have found themselves between a rock and a sharp place. 

     "True enough, you've got your work cut out for you, but in the case that you do defeat me, everyone would have no choice but to admire you as the star of all monsters and the true savior of the underground. That's the reason why you set all of this up right? If so, then I'm in," the human responded.

     "So, you like games huh, alright then. Interesting how you know so much, not the first time a fan of mine went around mass murdering. Though they're usually not a human," he said. "In any case I await you at the CORE right before the elevator to the king's castle. Try not to dice up too many monsters on the way, I want someone to be around to see this," he finished before cutting off the connection between him and the mini.

 _The nerve of that guy,_ the human thought with a chuckle.  _I can't believe he's still able to keep his composure amidst all of this despair. I shouldn't be surprised seeing how he's always emphasized having grace under_ _fire. I'm_ _curious as to how long he'll be able to maintain that enthusiasm, and he must have something good to say before he dies._ _If everything wasn't setting up to be fun, this would almost be enough to make me feel guilty again,_ they thought.


End file.
